The awards for the medalists in Paris sparked a new round between the IBA and the IOC

The International Boxing Federation (IBA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) added a new round to their long fight and in the middle were the next Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.

The IBA, away from the Olympic boxing organization since it was suspended by the IOC after Rio 2016, announced that it will give a monetary prize to medal winners in Paris 2024 and will also guarantee them future fights for world titles.

The body chaired by the Russian Umar Kremlev announced that the objective is “to support athletes, coaches and National Federations, as well as to highlight the commitment of the IBA to provide the best support to its athletes, based on their hard work and dedication to the sport of boxing. Our athletes and their efforts should be appreciated. The IBA offers opportunities and invests considerably in our boxers, they remain the focal point and we will continue to support them at all levels.”

The IBA will disburse 100,000 dollars for each gold medal, half for the athlete and the other half will be distributed equally to the National Federation and its coach. The silver medal will have a total prize of 50 thousand dollars and 25 thousand dollars for the bronzes, distributed with the same logic as the gold one. “The athletes who lost in the quarterfinals and finished fifth will each receive 10,000 dollars from the IBA, making the total commitment of the prize fund equal to more than 3.1 million dollars (2.8 million euros) distributed to more than 100 boxers,” said Kremlev.

After learning about this decision by the International Boxing Federation, the International Olympic Committee picked up the gauntlet and issued a quick counterattack, once again focusing on economic transparency.

“As always with the IBA, it’s not clear where the money comes from. This total lack of financial transparency was exactly one of the reasons why the IOC withdrew its recognition from the IBA,” said the body chaired by Thomas Bach.

The IOC also issued a warning for the next Olympic Games, where boxing has not yet been confirmed to be present: “It is clear that any boxer whose National Federation joins the IBA will not be able to participate in the LA28 Olympic Games. The respective CON will have to exclude said National Boxing Federation from its membership.”

After the message from the International Olympic Committee, the International Boxing Association launched a coup again and defined the response as a “shameful lack of respect”.

“Following the unprecedented announcement by the IBA about awarding cash prizes to our Paris 2024 Olympic champions, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) immediately responded by issuing an ultimatum to all National Federations and their boxers. Essentially, the heavy-handed message is clear: if you don’t leave the IBA for the change of the next Olympic cycle, then your athletes won’t be able to compete in the Games. This is an absolute parody and embarrassment of supposedly one of the world’s leading sports organizations,” the new statement said.

The IOC had already assured that if boxing is present in Los Angeles it will not be with the IBA and that is World Boxing, with the United States and Great Britain at the helm and led by former candidate for president of the IBA Boris van der Vorst, the new organization that will seek recognition to try to keep the sport in the Olympic Games. The deadline is early next year. Olympic boxing is on the ropes.